SEMINAR REPORT

As rightly said by Peter Drucker, ―The only skill that will be important in the 21st century is

the skill of learning new skills. Everything else will become obsolete over time.‖

Realizing the need to devise and implement new pedagogies in order to face the new

challenges of the 21st century, K.J. Somaiya Comprehensive College of Education, Research

and Training in collaboration with Global Foundation had organized a two day National

Seminar on the topic:

NEW CHALLENGES AND NEW PEDAGOGIES FOR

21ST CENTURY EDUCATION

(24th

in the Senior Scholars' Seminar Series)

on

February 17-18, 2017

DAY 1: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017

INAUGURAL SESSION

The Chief Guest for the inaugural session was Shri Vipul Shah (Principal Scientist, TCS).

The guest of honour and keynote speaker was Dr Sugra Chunawala (Dean, HBCSE,

Mankhurd). The chair person was own Shri V. Ranganathan (Hon. Secretary,

SomaiyaVidyavihar, Mumbai).

The program started with the campus prayer followed by lighting of lamp by the esteemed

dignitaries.

Honourable chairperson Shri V Ranganathan felicitated the Chief Guest and the Guest of

Honour. Our respected Principal Dr.Vasundhara Padmanabhan felicitated Honourable

secretary Shri V Ranganathan. Introductory remark was given by the principal and she

extended a very warm welcome to the guests and everyone present for the seminar.

Our respected Principal Dr.Vasundhara Padmanabhan highlighted the theme of the seminar

by stressing on the fact that even today educators are focusing only on teaching from the

textbook, impaired evaluation techniques are implemented and when we reflect on the

teaching learning process later, we realise that not much learning have taken place.

As precisely stated by our respected Principal Dr.Vasundhara Padmanabhan, ―In 21st century

no child is dumb, each child has been given a label of different kind of intelligence, if the

student is not able to understand it implies that our teaching style is not matching their

learning style.‖ Hence, keeping the syllabus completion in mind, we can use technology such

as flip class, blended learning etc. to cater to the various learning styles and to nurture the 21st

century skills in the students, such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration,

problem solving, creativity etc.

Post the thought provoking talk by our respected Principal Dr.Vasundhara Padmanabhan. Dr.

Pooja Birwatkar announced the release of the ISBN book containing combined research

papers, which were presented in the last seminar. The theme of the last seminar was

―EDUCATION FOR PEACE‖ The ISBN book was launched by all the dignitaries.

The guest of honour and keynote speaker, Dr Sugra Chunawala was invited on the dais to

address the audience. She started by stating the 21st Century skills which are needed to be

imbibed in all humans. Following that she stressed that the major challenge we are facing in

21st century is that the world is increasingly growing complex and there is an explosion of

knowledge taking place. In midst of all this we need to focus on inclusion of all kinds (caste,

religion, language, community, disabilities etc.)

She shed some light on the origin of HBCSE. They work with 1st generation learners, talented

learners, visually impaired etc. They also tend to the issues relating to gender difference.

Their motto is to provide equity and quality. Some of the pedagogies stressed upon by her

were; Integrated and multidisciplinary approach, data handling, focus on metacognition,

collaborative learning and focus on addressing social and ethical concerns. She encouraged

the use of computers for social progress by building groups. She gave a reference of a

research paper written by Cynthia Scott, ―Future of Learning‘ 2015.

Later the chief guest Shri Vipul Shah was invited on the dais to enlighten the audience on the

relevance of the 21st century skills and the need for revamped computing curriculum. He

expressed that the theme of the seminar is very close to him.

He began with narrating a story about his child, who was fascinated about his father‘s work

(software engineering) in his childhood, but who developed a fear for the same field once he

completed his schooling. By this story we realised that there is a need for change in

computing curriculum and pedagogy at the school, high school and graduation level. He

shared with us instances where engineer graduates were not able to answer basic conceptual

questions during the interview. He shared a few examples of technological advancements

such as 3D printing, Rolls Royce remote operated vessels, driverless vehicles etc. He stated

that the purpose of education shall be to prepare students for higher education and to train

them in foundational skills. Through CS Pathshala he aims to introduce problem solving

skills and computing skills and his vision is to impart basic problem solving skills to all

children in India by the next 15 years.

Moving further we had a talk by Hon Secretary, Shri V. Ranganathan. He shed some light on

the origin of the Somaiya group of institutes. He highlighted the 21st century challenges such

as increasing globalisation, changes in support system and ecological crisis. He added that

due to all these issues students are losing touch with human values and facing anxiety, stress.

Conflicts, urge to be violent etc.

He promoted the use of group activities. He also promoted to encourage students to take part

in sports and also to make sports obligatory. He stressed that with the growing technology

students shall be taught the skills to manage, operate and repair the technology. He

encouraged teacher training institutes to introduce online and offline refresher courses,

keeping in mind the needs of working individuals. The purpose of education as per him is; to

kindle the curiosity, to develop affinity towards learning and to promote problem solving

skills. At the end he presented a thought provoking riddle and lastly he thanked the organisers

of seminar and other guests.

EXPERT TALK

Following the inaugural session there was an expert talk on Peace Club in School- A

Simulation by Ms.Shantala Kasargod. Madam began her speech admiring the scholarly

analysis presented by the eminent speaker on the Challenges of 21st century education. She

then went on to provide solutions for the same. She explained the Education for Peace

project carried on with dedication in different parts of Sindhudurg and Aurangabad.

Education for peace was conceptualized by UNESCO to usher in a culture of peace.

Today due to globalization a carpenter‘s son can become a computer specialist in the Silicon

Valley. At the other side of the window, the same agents of change are providing multiple

inputs through media, technology etc. resulting in a shift in thinking. As they cannot control

which value system the child is picking through conventional transformational analysis, they

have designed a programme that equips the child to act, reflect and respond like responsible

global citizens. She went on to add that they train teachers in 6 competencies with a focus on

6 to 7 touch points. They conduct peace clubs twice a week for an hour in which various

activities are undertaken which are designed by Ms Shreya Jani. She noted that their activity

work book has been selected by the UN. The activity book assists children to internalize

peace education, engage in critical study and transform their own self. She then shared a

technique they implement with the 6th

standard students to promote problem solving skills.

Towards the end she displayed and circulated a workbook together with evaluation sheets

that combined Blooms Taxonomy and Multiple Intelligence sheet. After going through the

workbook, respected Vice Principal Dr. Kalpana Kharade added that books shall be

developed by an inclusive perspective; focus shall be on keeping the language simple so as to

reach the grass root level also the requirements of special needs children should be catered to.

C S PATHSHALA: WORKSHOP ON BRINGING COMPUTATIONAL THINKING

to SCHOOLS

The most anticipated session of the day started at 2 p.m. Our respected principal Dr.

Vasundhara Padmanabhan gave the introductory remark and invited Shri Vipul Shah to

address the audience. Shre Vipul Shah felicitated Dr. Paritosh Pandya (Professor, TIFR,

Adjunct Professor, IIT Mumbai).

The session started with a fun activity (Magic constant and XOs) to get everyone thinking

logically.

Dr Paritosh Pandya gave the key note address. He spoke about what are computational skills

and how to weave the reflections in teaching experience. CS according to him is problem

solving. He talked at length about digital media, internet, E commerce and E governance,

smart phones and apps. He talked of the large force in India and why it is necessary to bring

computational thinking in India. He talked of certain grave realities like lack of man power,

need of trained people in software, quality of graduates.

He talked about issues like 25% of the graduates not getting jobs. According to him we need

to deliberate on what is going to be the future. Training in software is necessary along with

smart planning. The solution to most problems would depend on technological development

and basic advances in Computational skills. Current curriculum has to be made more

adaptable. He through an example of aadhar card related to how important is computational

skills. Algorithm thinking affects all wakes of life. He discussed certain key topics to learn

like data structures and algorithms, discrete mathematics, and information processing. He

spoke about certain dilemma of computer education and compared computer science with

computer skills. He reflected how the curriculum in computer science should be and how

focus has to be on programming rather than language. Structural thinking has to start early

and learning by doing should be the goal.

Our respected principal Dr. Vasundhara Padmanaban thanked Dr. Paritosh Pandya and called

upon stage Shri Vipul Shah to further enlighten the audience about the working of

CSPathshala. He demonstrated Scratch software. He highlighted certain role of schools in

computing education such as focus on problem solving skills, taking. ICT in schools beyond

basic digital literary skills and bring a shift of focus from computer skills to computer

science. He stressed on the need of schools to revamp the computer curriculum and develop

appropriate teaching aids.

Together with that there was a need to train and support teacher communities appropriately.

He then stated and demonstrated the initiatives undertaken by CSPathshala such as the

curriculum, teaching aids, 3 year pilot plan, awareness workshops, teacher training

programme etc. He explained what computational thinking is via the 4 pillars.

Towards the end the Mr Anup and Ms Pallavi from Code Chef conducted two more fun

activities.

Shri Vipul Shah thanked everyone and the session was concluded by our respected Principal

Dr. Vasundhara Padmanabhan in which she extended thanks to all the dignitaries.

DAY 2: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Day 2 of the 24th Senior Scholar Seminar Series began with a panel discussion. The panellist

for the session were Dr Reni Francis, Assistant professor – Pillai College of Education ,Ms

Seema Sabhlok- Principal of S.M Shetty School and Junior College, Ms Minakshi Walke,

Principal of IES school Bhandup, Ms Sachu Ramalingam, Head Quality Assurance-

Kangaroo Kids and Ms Bharati Hazari Principal of IES school Bandra. The moderator of the

panel discussion was Dr Reni Francis.

The first panellist was Ms. Seema Sabhlok, Principal of S.M Shetty School and Junior

College. She presented Innovative Pedagogies for 21st Century. She defined education as not

only the literacy, the mean to add up in biodata, degree and so on but Education is overall

development, empathy and passion.

She talked about the need of new pedagogies as the current changing scenario. She focussed

on various challenges in 21st century which are needed to be taken into consideration. She

talked on why are 21st skills are important and discussed the challenges along with few

solutions such as teacher needs to be adaptable and keep working in the group dynamics,

retain people and renew oneself according to the change and demands of the age. She gave

the solution to eradicate boredom and aggressive behaviour of students as teacher should give

freedom of exploring and believe by facilitating learning and educate their EQ, IQ, SQ, HQ,

GQ and KQ.

The next panellist was Ms Meenakshi Walke, Principal of IES School, Bandra. She started

her talk by referring to India‘s rich history where education did not play an important as

compared to today. Being associated with SSC School she spoke a lot about with reference to

SSC schools and challenges faced by them. She said that in SSC schools there is a lot of

responsibility on teachers, they try to do a lot of new things for their students because of

growing competition. The major challenge they face is getting good teachers.

She also spoke about how a lot of schools don‘t include inclusive education. She said that

earlier education was only meant to secure a degree, but now, it is more about getting good

opportunities. Linking of education is important. 1st to 10th std should be linked. She also

spoke about lack of concept clarity among students. She also spoke creating n all around

atmosphere in schools.

The next panellist was Ms Sachu Ramalingam, Head Quality Assurance- Kangaroo Kids.

She spoke on the topic of ―Differentiated Instruction‖. She highlighted the need of

differentiated instruction to meet the needs of children with diverse needs. She focused on the

need of the RTE act. She pinpointed on the standard method of assessment in Indian

education and the need to change it for the differentiated divers.

She explained the framework of differentiated instructions is based on 3 different

philosophies namely: Vygotsky‘s grounded learning theory; Howard Gardner‘s multiple

intelligence and Social Interaction between the learners and knowledgeable adults. She also

gave the core 8 areas which are essential to learning process. She emphasised on achieving a

balance between 3 elements i.e: academics, social and developmental which will vary

according to individual needs.

The next panellist was Ms. Bharati Hazari, Principal of New English School, IES Bandra.

The session began with a small exercise on the hand and leg co-ordination through which she

emphasized on the importance of co-ordination of various things in one‘s life. She talked

about the challenges faced by the students, teachers and the management. With respect to the

challenges faced in today‘s time by the teachers and the management she said that the

teachers aren‘t trained well to deal with students, students with special needs, dealing with

the parents etc. There are pressures of completing the syllabus in a very short span of time as

well as the problems faced due to the poor implementation of the ‗Education for all scheme‘

by the government and so on. She presented some possible solutions for the same

Dr. Reni Francis spoke about how Teacher Education Curriculum is meeting the needs of the

21st century skills of the students.

She also extended a plea from the Teacher Education Institutions to the schools to provide a

platform for the student teachers. She discussed out about the change in the core curriculum

as per the 21st century skills like problem solving, team building, critical thinking, etc. She

summed up by saying that the Teacher Education Institution should focus on providing on all

round development of the student teachers by personalized relevant supportive learning,

grooming their well-being, engagement with society and schools.

PAPER PRESENTATIONS

The next session was paper presentations which were in 3 parallel sessions as per the

different themes.

SUBTHEME 1: CHALLENGES OF 21ST

CENTURY EDUCATION

The chairperson of the session was Ms. Bharati Hazari, Principal of New English School, IES

Bandra.

The first paper was by Dr. Reni Francis and Ms. Jaya Cherian, Assistant Professors from

Pillai College of Education and Research, Chembur on the topic ―Preparing Student

Teachers for 21st Century Learners”. This paper focused on preparing student teachers for

the 21st century schools. This was done through a workshop on 21st Century Skills, Life

skills, six thinking hats, modelling to be a Role model and Communication skills. A survey

was collected from the student teachers and an analysis of the feedback was done to

understand the student teachers experiences with respect to the 21st Century Life skills. The

paper concluded that it is important to identify learner profile and conduct teaching learning

process accordingly.

The second paper was by Ms. Sabrina Mukadam (B.Ed Student Teacher) and Dr. Reni

Francis (Assistant Professor) from Pillai College of Education and Research, Chembur. The

paper was titled “Igniting Ability turning it into Accomplishment”. This paper focused on

igniting abilities through various growth mind-set activities that will enable the secondary

school students to realise their abilities and provide an environment that values challenge

seeking learning and effort above perfection. It focuses on nurturing natural ability that leads

to success.

The next paper was by Ms. Charu Singh-Asst. Professor, Sathaye College-Mumbai. The

paper was on ―Learner’s Expectation in 21st Century”. The researcher was very inquisitive

to know what are the expectations of higher education students from their teachers,

universities and ultimately from government. Researcher conducted a qualitative research to

understand the expectation and psyche of the 21stcentury learners.5 students were

individually interviewed and interview was recorded. Students from general college were

selected from different streams. After the thematic analysis of interviews researcher

concluded that 21st century learners want their higher education teacher to be more friendly

and approachable. They also feel that they must have an access of teachers beyond the

college premises and hours. They want universities to be more organized, time bound with

student‘s representation at every stage of decision making and government to be more

flexible.

The next paper was by Ms Smita Nair, Director, Charitable Foundation-Pune. Her paper

focussed on “Challenges of 21 Century Education in Secondary School”. She talked of

how preparing students for work, citizenship, and life in the 21st century is complicated.

Globalization, technology, migration, international competition, changing markets, and

transnational environmental and political challenges add a new urgency to develop the skills

and knowledge students need for success in the 21st century context. In this paper she

focussed on focus on what research tells us about characteristics of 21st century learners and

teachers and how certain steps could be taken by educators in bridging the gap between

learning and teaching for the 21st century.

The last paper was by Dr. Mousumi Bhaumik,Officer In-charge/Academic Coordinator and

Ravi Prakash Singh, Lecturer in Special Education from National Institute for the

Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Navi Mumbai. The paper was titled

―Universal Design for Learning-Meeting the Needs of all Students “A Study on

Implementation of UDL Based Practices in Inclusive Schools”. This paper talked of how

diversity in classroom has increased after the implementation of ―Education for All‖

programme under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the Right to Education Act 2009.

Students have different needs, abilities, and preferences. Neither their strengths nor their

barriers to learning are always obvious. They tend to be the students ―in the margins‖—those

who need different kinds of supports and scaffolds to learn. The study investigated responses

of 80 teachers including Special Education Needs (SEN) Teachers from 20 regular schools,

10 schools each in Delhi and Mumbai about meeting the diverse needs of today‘s classroom

through inclusive practices and compare it with the comprehensive provisions given for

inclusive instructional strategies under UDL. Statistical analysis revealed significant

difference in the implementation UDL based practices in Inclusive schools and schools of

Delhi NCR are performing better in implementing inclusion and use of UDL based practices

than in Mumbai.

SUBTHEME 2: CREATING NEW LEARNING SPACES

The chairperson of the session was Ms Meenakshi Walke, Principal of IES School, Bandra.

The first paper was presented by Dr Kalpana Kharade, Vice Principle, K.J. Somaiya College

of Education. The paper was titled “Creating New Science Learning Spaces for Visually

Impaired Students- A success Story”.

Dr Kalpana Kharade expressed importance of science in our day to day life and how visually

impaired students are discouraged to learn science. She discussed three levels of barriers ie

attitude, resource barrier and pedagogical. She discussed about her project to teach science to

visually impaired students. In her project she used guided practice project and concluded that

visually impaired have different ways to see and observe the world. She discussed various

cases where inquiry approach was successful for this.

The next paper was by Dr. Lolly Jain, Assistant Prof, K.J. Somaiya College of Science and

Commerce- Mumbai on title ―Student Engagement Strategies- Significant Tools in

Higher Education”. She started with best practices defined by NAAC. She focussed on

student engagement and motivation. She discussed criteria like universal criteria, excellence,

value education, goal oriented criteria and contextual criteria. She enlisted best practices and

impact of best practices. She reflected on concepts like lab to land, entrepreneur cell

development, mentor tutor scheme and alumni engagement. All best practices have to keep

student in the centre.

The next paper was by Mr. Sheshkumar Ramchandra Sharma, Principal, Rahul D.El.Ed.

College, Bhayandar, Mumbai on ―Creating New Learning Spaces through ICT in

Tertiary Education”. He defined ICT, asynchronous learning and blended learning. He also

reflected on role of ICT in excelling the quality of advanced learning. He focussed on

education for harmony and Peace and its advantages. He recommended teachers to integrate

ICT in school. He also highlighted the technological skills of ICT learners. Open educational

resources and its advantages were highlighted.

The next paper was by Dr. Sunita Jain, Asst. Prof, Pillai College of Education & Research-

Chembur on ―Student’s Engagement in Learning Employing Strategies to Maximise

Students’ Engagement”. The key of effective learning environment is meaningful learning

experiences that the students gain each day. 21st century students are technologically and

digitally driven active learners. Educators need to design innovative methodologies to keep

our students actively involved and engaged by maximum participation from them. So the

onus lies on all the stakeholders of education system to keep a pace with this dynamic group

of students. Otherwise the objective of empowering students will be an utter failure. The

focus of the study is to find out the existing students engagement and based on it suggests

strategies to enhance it. A survey was conducted to find out the behavioural, affective and

cognitive engagement of secondary school students. The researcher also finds out whether

there is a significant difference between these three engagement domains. The researcher

further suggests methodologies and strategies to maximise students‘ engagement.

The next paper was by Dr. Pradnya J Prabhu, Vice Principal, K. J. Somaiya College of

Science and Commerce- Mumbai. The title of the paper was ―Quality Enhancement

through Privatisation and Autonomy in Education”. She defined autonomy and discussed

its advantages. She talked of how more discipline can be introduced. She compared

University.

The next paper was by Ms. Anushree Mishra and Ms. Ishita Sengupta, SY B.Ed students

Of K. J. Somaiya Comprehensive College of Education, Training and Research. The title of

the paper was “Relevance, Effectiveness and Challenges of Differentiated Instruction in

Present Indian Scenario”. This paper talked of a survey conducted with the teachers,

administrators and counsellors of different schools regarding their viewpoint about

differentiated instruction and analysed the possible implementations in Indian scenario. The

two factors that were considered were lack of knowledge and practice of differentiated

instruction implementation and extra work for the teacher without apt remuneration. With

Inclusive education in forefront, Differentiated Instruction can be used capture student‘s

interest and boost student‘s knowledge was this paper‘s conclusion.

SUB THEME 3: DIVERGENT PATHS TO EDUCATION FOR PEACE

SUB THEME 4: CREATING 21ST CENTURY SCHOOLS- BEST PRACTICES IN

INDIA AND ABROAD

The chairperson of the session was Ms. Seema Sabhlok, Principal of S.M Shetty School and

Junior College.

The first paper was by Dr Pooja Birwatkar, Assistant Professor, K.J. Somaiya Comprehensive

College of Education, Training and Research. The paper was on ―Finland’s Herculean

Stride towards Altering Education System’s DNA. Can India change its DNA too?” The

paper focussed on education system of Finland in contrast to Indian education system. It

reflected on how Finland is going to scrap its traditional subject approach and adopt

phenomenon based approach. The compartmentalized school subjects would be scrapped out

and a cross curricular format will be adopted which will enable the students to focus on

interdisciplinary connections rather than learn disjointed subjects. The crucial question put

forth was whether India can also follow the footsteps of this Finnish approach. The reaction

of the stakeholders was put across. The preparedness of Indian education system to embrace

such revolutionary changes was deliberated upon.

The next paper was by Dr. Divya Sharma, Associate Professor, IITE-Gujarat. The paper was

titled ―Effectiveness of Experiential Learning in Developing Interest in Science among

Student Teachers”. This paper talked about experiential learning. The objectives of the

study was to develop an Interest Inventory in Science to measure interest in science among

science method students of Bachelor of Education Program, to develop a experiential

learning module for them and finally to test its effectiveness. Interest in Science among the

science method students was calculated with the help of researcher developed Interest

Inventory. Independent Variable was experiential learning based science Teaching Method.

Dependent variable was Interest in Science among science method students. Null Hypothesis

was tested and it was found that there is a significant difference in the pre-test and post-test

Science Interest inventory scores.

This study suggested that experiential learning is effective in increasing the interest of

science method students of Bachelor of Education Program. And teachers should make effort

to use experiential learning techniques in their teaching learning process.

The next paper was by Ms Kalyani Vinod, Teacher, The Somaiya School-Mumbai. The title

of the paper was “Fostering Empathetic Behaviour in Adolescents as a means to

Advance Peace Education”.

She discussed the role of Empathy and how to foster empathetic behaviour in adolescents as a

means to advance peace education. This was a qualitative research study conducted by

reviewing relevant literature and using semi-structured interviews with students. Throughout

the research process, the findings revealed that real peace and peace education cannot be

achieved without fostering socio-emotional skills like empathy and understanding in students.

Fostering empathy has proven to reduce violence in schools, impacting children and youth‘s

lives in school environments and beyond.

The last paper was by Ms. Minal Mistry, FY B.Ed Student, K. J. Somaiya Comprehensive

College of Education, Training and Research. The topic was ―Evolution of Inclusive

Education from Integrated Education”. She talked about what is inclusion and its

evolution.The paper focussed on the need of removing negative attitude and focusing on

teacher‘s education for attending the children with special needs is of utmost importance. It

brought brings forth the initial failure of integrated education and later the introduction of

inclusive education, its prospects and the challenges faced in terms of bringing parity to those

students denied their basic rights.

VALEDICTORY SESSION

The Guest of Honour of the session Ms Sachu Ramalingam, Head Quality Assurance-

Kangaroo Kids as well as Mr Howard Gee, Head of Secondary at DSB International. In this

session, Mr Howard Gee, Head of Secondary at DSB International gave an expert talk. He

talked about what is meant by teaching and learning. He got the participants to play a game

on kahoot.it. He demonstrated how it can be used in teaching. He talked about DSB School,

its methodology and functioning. He asked participants what all are necessary for teaching

and reflected on how teaching learning can be made more activity centered.

After this the report of the seminar capturing the highlights of the two days was read.

Following this Ms Sachu Ramalingam talked of philosophy of Ms Leena Asher, Chairperson

of Kangaroo Kids Edu Ltd and Billabong schools. She talked of how coming era would be

not of technology but creativity and how schools nurture creativity. She gave examples of

how billabong nurtures creativity.

This was followed by reflections by participants regarding the seminar. Vote of thanks was

given by Ms Hema Bhadawkar. The seminar ended with National Anthem.